A CALLOUS conman who stole bank cards and a winning betting slip from heart patients at a Birmingham hospital has been jailed for a year.

Neil Rigby’s “nasty offences” caused one of his victims, a recovering alcoholic, to turn back to drink, Warwick Crown Court heard.

The 44-year-old, previously of Hob Lane, Balsall Common, pleaded guilty to four charges of theft and six of fraud.

Prosecutor Kathryn Roughton said that one of his victims, who he met while being treated at Heartlands Hospital, allowed him to stay in his home when they were discharged, because Rigby had nowhere else to go at the end of February.

But when he left in March he took the man’s building society book and stole £1,000 from his account.

As a result the victim became more unwell, began to suffer from anxiety and turned back to alcohol.

Then, in late April, while Rigby was again a patient at Heartlands Hospital, he met another victim, who told him he had won £236.25 after placing a bet on a horse.

The man said he had suffered his heart attack before he had been able to collect his winnings.

And Rigby callously stole the betting slip from the man’s wallet before he was discharged.

The patient contacted the bookies to ask them not to pay out – but was too late.

Then, while using some of the money to stay in a B&B, Rigby stole the owner’s bank card which he claimed he returned after using it.

David Roy, defending, said: “They are nasty little offences. He has bad health and was in hospital genuinely at the time, but that does not excuse what he did.”